NYLAG and Patterson Belknap co-counsel to represent plaintiffs for whom the transition would disrupt critical home care and deny due process rights
NEW YORK — Attorneys from the New York Legal Assistance Group (NYLAG) and Patterson Belknap late Wednesday evening filed a lawsuit on behalf of New York Medicaid recipients enrolled in the Consumer-Directed Personal Assistance Program, known as CDPAP, to delay the rushed and tumultuous transition from 600 fiscal intermediaries to one, Public Partnerships LLC (PPL).
Advocates maintain that the fast-tracked PPL transition would devastate access to in-home care for people with disabilities and older adults who rely on CDPAP to lead safe, dignified lives in their own communities, in violation of the 14th Amendment and the Medicaid Act. Some CDPAP participants have not started making the transition because they are unaware of the change, or they have not been able to complete their own enrollment or register their personal assistants—not for a lack of effort, but because the rollout has proven to be logistically inaccessible and confusing for consumers and caregivers alike. The Department of Health’s rollout of the transition to PPL denies participants’ rights to notice and hearing to which all Medicaid beneficiaries are entitled in the face of state actions that would end their vital CDPAP services leading, in some cases, to serious medical harm.
“From the start, this transition has been riddled with chaos. Our clients either do not know they are supposed to enroll with PPL, or have been unable to use PPL’s website or hotline to complete their registration, and this means that they are in danger of losing services on April 1,” said Elizabeth Jois, supervising attorney in NYLAG’s Special Litigation Unit and one of the attorneys litigating the case. “Ultimately, following through with the timeline as planned will violate CDPAP participants’ rights as Medicaid beneficiaries. New Yorkers deserve better, we need more time to ensure a successful transition that protects their care, and we intend to secure that time through the courts.”
“We are proud to partner with the New York Legal Assistance Group to ensure New York Medicaid CDPAP recipients continue to have access to in-home care and other crucial services to which they are legally entitled,” said Patterson Belknap partner, Lisa E. Cleary.
“As a person with a disability, you are always in survival mode,” said Marisol Getchius, a plaintiff in the case. “The state plowing ahead with this PPL transition just intensifies that. It will directly impact my ability to maintain in-home care, and every aspect of my life.”
The filing, submitted in United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (EDNY), seeks a temporary restraining order to prevent the State from staying the course with the current deadline to transition to the new administrative system with PPL.
“You couldn’t dream up a worse process than what the state Health Department and PPL have designed to re-sign up for consumer-directed care,” said Joe Rappaport, executive director of the Brooklyn Center for Independence of the Disabled, a plaintiff in the suit. “We’re suing because the people we work with—and tens of thousands more—are at risk of losing their freedom, ending up in hospital emergency rooms, institutions or worse, all because of an unnavigable online registration portal, never-returned phone calls, and a lack of basic information for participants and their aides. They all deserve much better from the state and PPL.”
“We are gravely concerned for the wellbeing of our members who will find themselves without the homecare services that keep them independent and safe,” said Brooke Erickson, vice president of Direct Services at the Regional Center for Independent Living, another plaintiff. “Without assistance, they will experience skin breakdowns, urinary tract infections and sepsis which puts their lives at risk. Some may go to the emergency room to get the personal assistance they need, but others who are fearful of institutionalization may just go without assistance, get sick and die. These conditions are unacceptable—especially because they are preventable.”
The plaintiffs, which include six individuals and two independent living centers, are asking for at least a six-month extension for CDPAP participants to make the transfer to PPL. Read the filing here and follow our case page for updates.
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